Plateau?
plateau-fitness-progress-asymptote-diminishing-returns-improvement
Takeaway Points:
It’s natural to see diminishing returns as you advance in fitness because the closer you get to your genetic limit, the harder and longer it takes to make progress.
Most times when people complain about plateauing, what they’re really complaining about is not seeing the results they want fast enough. Properly managing expectations and accurately tracking your progress is key.
(Note: This is an updated version of an article originally published on 8/25/15. It has been expanded significantly to cover other potential sources of lack of progression, and to provide clearer solutions where applicable. It has been updated for modern formatting standards.)
It’s common to hear about the concept of “hitting a plateau” in your training or diet - when you stop seeing progress for an extended period of time. But what really is a plateau? How can we get around it?
Firstly, it’s important to understand that exercise is subject to diminishing returns. The longer you’ve been working out, the less you’re going to get out of each set, rep, and workout.
What that means is, everyone is always plateauing, to a certain extent. If you’re getting better, you’re getting better at a slower and slower rate all the time. This creates an asymptotic sigmoid curve - meaning, as you get better, you get closer and closer to some theoretical genetic potential, but this means that further progress is slower and slower.
However, when most people talk about “hitting a plateau”, they’re usually not talking about this normal process. They’re talking about hitting some kind of wall in their training, where they stop seeing progress altogether.
We obviously want to avoid plateauing too soon, stalling out before we see our real potential. What are some ways that we could be hitting that end range too early?
You’re actually progressing, but you don’t realize it.
This is actually more common than you might think. Most people are not carefully measuring their progress on an ongoing, highly precise basis. As a result, they might have one bad day, and get anxious and assume that all their progress is out the window, when in reality if they measured their progress on their good days, they’d see their progress more clearly.
The solution: Track your progress more carefully and consistently. Get body part measurements weekly to track muscle growth, or take scale weight measurements regularly to track changes in your weight, or take max tests regularly to measure changes in your strength.
You’re not progressing your workouts or aren’t working out hard enough.
Many people are following bad workout routines, not progressing their workouts effectively over time, or constantly program hopping. This limits your ability to see progress.
The solution: Get a better exercise program or coach.
You’re inconsistent.
Lots of people are inconsistent with their training or diet. This limits your ability to progress as in the point above.
The solution: Figure out a better motivator - improve on your habits, find a coach, take up group classes, etc.
You’re progressing your workouts too quickly.
A more common issue than inconsistency - especially for highly aggressive alpha/type A personalities - is just doing too much, too soon. Pushing for too-aggressive progressions results in hitting a wall, and since it feels bad to step back and drop weight/restart a progression, many avoid admitting that they’ve done so.
The solution: Pull back a bit on the weight or volume used, be more strict about form, build back up better and more slowly than last time.
You’re trying to do too much at once.
In general, it’s better to aim for a smaller number of goals rather than a larger one. By focusing on a smaller number of goals, you can minimize excess effort, focus your energy where it counts, and get better results.
The solution: Pick 1-2 main goals and make those the center of your training. Keep on track and don’t try out every new training method under the sun.
You’re selecting goals that are at odds with each other.
For example, if you want to get as strong as possible, then you don’t want to also be trying to lose as much weight as possible, since losing weight means losing some muscle mass and putting you in a low energy environment where it’s hard to build muscle and strength. Likewise, you probably don’t want to combine marathon running with training for strength. It can be done - but it’s harder, and requires more effort, and the training knowledge of how to effectively combine opposing goals without issue.
The solution: As above, minimize your main goals and aim only to select goals that are reasonable and achievable together. A coach can often help to give you a sense of what a reasonable goal is.
Having excessive expectations
This one is closely related to some of the above ones, and the fact that it’s natural that progress just slows down over time. Many people want results fast, and don’t want to wait. They set unreasonable expectations on what’s possible, and this results in frustration and the sense that they’re failing/plateauing, not because they aren’t seeing results, but because they’re seeing results slower than they want.
The solution: Unfortunately, this one is hard to fight. You’ll get better at knowing what’s reasonable when you’ve been training longer, or you can consult a coach for guidance - but most people who have this mindset don’t want to listen to guidance, making this problem a tough nut to crack. Even the most seasoned athletes are guilty of wanting everything, all the time, and needing to fight a bit of frustration accordingly.
Are you experiencing a plateau in your own training? We have a variety of offerings that might help:
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About Adam Fisher
Adam is an experienced fitness coach and blogger who's been blogging and coaching since 2012, and lifting since 2006. He's written for numerous major health publications, including Personal Trainer Development Center, T-Nation, Bodybuilding.com, Fitocracy, and Juggernaut Training Systems.
During that time he has coached thousands of individuals of all levels of fitness, including competitive powerlifters and older exercisers regaining the strength to walk up a flight of stairs. His own training revolves around bodybuilding and powerlifting, in which he’s competed.
Adam writes about fitness, health, science, philosophy, personal finance, self-improvement, productivity, the good life, and everything else that interests him. When he's not writing or lifting, he's usually hanging out with his cats or feeding his video game addiction.
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Further Reading:
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